The present invention relates to automotive accessories and, more particularly, to accessories for facilitating the alignment of the hitches of a towing vehicle and a towed vehicle (hereinafter "trailer").
One of the most frustrating and difficult tasks for the driver of a motor vehicle to perform is to align/couple the trailer hitch of a towing vehicle with that of a trailer. The reason for the difficulty is the fact that the respective trailer hitches are out of the sight of the driver. Therefore, it was traditionally necessary to have a second person direct the driver into alignment with the towing vehicle. Otherwise, if the driver attempted such a task alone, the driver would have to repeatedly exit the vehicle and walk around to the rear of the vehicle to determine the relative locations of the hitches. Aside from the obvious difficulties and frustrations associated with aligning the hitches, there is also the risk of vehicle damage caused by the driver misjudging the distances required to couple, thus colliding the towing vehicle with the trailer.
A number of hitch alignment devices have been devised which attempt to solve the problems discussed herein. The devices range from those which have components mounted to both the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle to those which have components mounted exclusively to the towed vehicle. Examples of these devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,441 issued to Murray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,788 issued to Suter, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,138 issued to Berry. While these devices offer vast improvements over the traditional method of aligning hitches, they have their own unique limitations.
Specifically, some, if not all of these devices are limited in application to the type of hitch/coupler designs and hitch ball sizes to which they can attach, they are limited to the position of the towing vehicle's hitch relative to the towing vehicle, they provide inadequate performance in rough uneven terrain or strong breezes, they are not practicable for use on vehicles which have a spare tire mounted on the rear of the towing vehicle, and they do not provide aid in alignment in times of darkness.
Considering these design limitations and the continuing need for aid in the alignment and coupling of towing hitches, it is clear that a simple and effective device is needed which overcomes these limitations without sacrificing performance. The following invention accomplishes these goals.